Uplink data grant scheduling

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of apparatus and method for uplink grant handling are disclosed. In one example, a method for uplink grant handling can include receiving an uplink grant at a user equipment from a network device. The method can also include associating the uplink grant directly with a logical channel group including a plurality of logical channels. The user equipment can be configured to dequeue the logical channel group directly with priority for transmission scheduling. In some embodiments, the method can further include sending, to the network device from the user equipment, a request to associate a list of logical channel groups including the logical channel group. The request to associate can include a request to associate the plurality of logical channels with the logical channel group.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/US2021/025758, filed Apr. 5, 2021, which claims the benefit ofpriority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/023,557, filed May 12,2020, entitled “5G OPTIMIZED UPLINK DATA GRANT SCHEDULING WITH LATENCYDERIVED LOGICAL CHANNEL GROUPING,” both of which are hereby incorporatedby reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatuses and methodsfor wireless communication.

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,and broadcasts. In wireless communications, there may be uplinkcommunications from a user equipment to a base station and downlinkcommunications from the base station to the user equipment. The basestation may control uplink communications from the user equipment to thebase station by providing an uplink grant to the user equipment topermit the user equipment to communicate in uplink at a scheduled time.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of apparatus and method for uplink (UL) grant handling aredisclosed herein.

In one example, a method for uplink grant handling can include receivingan uplink grant at a user equipment from a network device. The methodcan also include associating the uplink grant directly with a logicalchannel group including a plurality of logical channels.

In another example, a method for uplink grant handling can includesending an uplink grant from a network device to a user equipment. Themethod can also include receiving, from the user equipment responsive tothe uplink grant, a request to associate a list of logical channelgroups. The request to associate can include a request to associate aplurality of logical channels with the logical channel group. The methodcan further include sending, from the network device to the userequipment, a reconfiguration message confirming the list of logicalchannel groups and association with plurality of logical channels.

In a further example, a user equipment can include at least oneprocessor and at least one memory including computer instructions. Theat least one memory and the computer instructions can be configured to,with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least toreceive an uplink grant at the user equipment from a network device. Theat least one memory and the computer instructions can also be configuredto, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at leastto associate the uplink grant directly with a logical channel groupincluding a plurality of logical channels.

In yet another example, a network device can include at least oneprocessor and at least one memory including computer instructions. Theat least one memory and the computer instructions can be configured to,with the at least one processor, cause the network device at least tosend an uplink grant from the network device to a user equipment. The atleast one memory and the computer instructions can also be configuredto, with the at least one processor, cause the network device at leastto receive, from the user equipment responsive to the uplink grant, arequest to associate a list of logical channel groups. The request toassociate can include a request to associate a plurality of logicalchannels with the logical channel group. The at least one memory and thecomputer instructions can further be configured to, with the at leastone processor, cause the network device at least to send, from thenetwork device to the user equipment, a reconfiguration messageconfirming the list of logical channel groups and association with theplurality of logical channels.

In an additional example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium canbe encoded with instructions that, when executed in a user equipment,perform a process for uplink grant handling. The process can includereceiving an uplink grant at the user equipment from a network device.The process can also include associating the uplink grant directly witha logical channel group including a plurality of logical channels.

In a further example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium can beencoded with instructions that, when executed in a network device,perform a process for uplink grant handling. The process can includesending an uplink grant from the network device to a user equipment. Theprocess can also include receiving, from the user equipment responsiveto the uplink grant, a request to associate a list of logical channelgroups. The request to associate can include a request to associate aplurality of logical channels with the logical channel group. Theprocess can further include sending, from the network device to the userequipment, a reconfiguration message confirming the list of logicalchannel groups and association with the plurality of logical channels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a partof the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosureand, together with the description, further serve to explain theprinciples of the present disclosure and to enable a person skilled inthe pertinent art to make and use the present disclosure.

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C illustrate typical scenarios for scheduled uplinktransmission.

FIG. 2 illustrates an association of UL grant latency to transmissionwith a logical channel group, according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user equipment requesting logical channel groupinglists based on uplink applications, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates user equipment reporting buffer status reports of alogic channel group schedule for each grant, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a user equipment method, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a network device method, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a fifth-generation (5G) data plane architecture.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus including a basebandchip, a radio frequency chip, and a host chip, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example node, in which some aspects of the presentdisclosure may be implemented, according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example wireless network, in which some aspectsof the present disclosure may be implemented, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although specific configurations and arrangements are discussed, itshould be understood that this is done for illustrative purposes only. Aperson skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that otherconfigurations and arrangements can be used without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to aperson skilled in the pertinent art that the present disclosure can alsobe employed in a variety of other applications.

It is noted that references in the specification to “one embodiment,”“an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” “some embodiments,” “certainembodiments,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodimentmay not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to thesame embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it wouldbe within the knowledge of a person skilled in the pertinent art toeffect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection withother embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage incontext. For example, the term “one or more” as used herein, dependingat least in part upon context, may be used to describe any feature,structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may be used todescribe combinations of features, structures or characteristics in aplural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a,” “an,” or “the,” again, maybe understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a plural usage,depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term “basedon” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey an exclusiveset of factors and may, instead, allow for existence of additionalfactors not necessarily expressly described, again, depending at leastin part on context.

Various aspects of wireless communication systems will now be describedwith reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus andmethods will be described in the following detailed description andillustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules,units, components, circuits, steps, operations, processes, algorithms,etc. (collectively referred to as “elements”). These elements may beimplemented using electronic hardware, firmware, computer software, orany combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented ashardware, firmware, or software depends upon the particular applicationand design constraints imposed on the overall system.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication networks, such as code division multiple access (CDMA)system, time division multiple access (TDMA) system, frequency divisionmultiple access (FDMA) system, orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess (OFDMA) system, single-carrier frequency division multiple access(SC-FDMA) system, and other networks. The terms “network” and “system”are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radioaccess technology (RAT), such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access(UTRA), CDMA 2000, etc. A TDMA network may implement a RAT, such asGlobal System for Mobile communication (GSM). An OFDMA network mayimplement a RAT, such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or New Radio (NR).The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networksand RATs mentioned above, as well as other wireless networks and RATs.

In typical cellular modems, the data plane architecture of the modem maybe statically configured for the maximum expected throughput processing,including processors that are not scalable. In some cellular modems,processing units that are specific to one or two layers may beimplemented. As such, the processing units may not be proportionallyscalable to optimize the power and performance of the modem, to supporteither high throughput or low latency low throughput applications.

In a fifth-generation (5G) cellular wireless modem, the user equipment(UE) uplink (UL) medium access control (MAC) layer can receive the ULgrant resource allocation from the physical downlink control channel(PDCCH) in a downlink control indicator (DCI) at the beginning of aslot. The UL grant resource allocation can inform the UE to transmit anUL MAC protocol data unit (MACPDU) at a time delay equivalent to K2slots away from the current slot.

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C illustrate typical scenarios for scheduled uplinktransmission. FIG. 1A illustrates scheduled uplink transmission wherethe scheduled time is one or more slots away. FIG. 1B illustratesscheduled uplink transmission where the scheduled time is less than oneslot away. FIG. 1C illustrates data flow to and from the UE in theapproaches of FIGS. 1A and 1B.

In FIG. 1 , K2 is 1 or more slots away, with a transmission start symbolS from the slot boundary. By contrast, in FIG. 2 , K2 is <1 (=0), with atransmission start symbol S that is in the same slot. Typically, K2<1grants are implied to be serviced for low latency application data.Hence Logical Channels (LC) data are pulled into such grants to be sentout as soon as possible.

More particularly, as shown in FIG. 1A, PDCCH containing DCI 0 canarrive in slot n and indicate that transmission is scheduled at a latertime, which is K2 slots later (where K2 is one or greater). Thetransmission can begin at start symbol S and last L symbols. Thetransmission can send a MAC PDU in one transport block (TB).

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 1B, PDCCH containing DCI 0 can arrive inslot n and indicate that transmission is scheduled shortly, namely K2slots later, where K2 is less than one. The transmission can begin atstart symbol S and last L symbols. The transmission can send a MAC PDUin one transport block (TB).

As shown in FIG. 1C, at 110 UE data can arrive in a buffer fortransmission from the UE. At 120, the UE can send a scheduling request,or the UE can attempt random access. Then, at 130, the BS may send agrant. At 140, in response to the grant, the UE can send some data plusa buffer status report (BSR) for all logical channels (LCs) or logicalchannel groups (LCGs). Again, at 150, the BS may again send a grant, andthe UE may, at 160, send data (in this case, possibly all the availabledata for transmission) and a BSR for all LCs or LCGs.

An UL MAC scheduling algorithm can apply a logical channelprioritization (LCP) method per the Third-Generation Partnership Project(3GPP) standard. The method can schedule packets from LCs according toallocated grant bytes from a configured maximum bucket size setting. Ina UE configuration with carrier aggregation (CA), multiple componentcarriers (CCs) can be aggregated for transmission. The UE may receivemultiple grants concurrently, one from each CC and cell. The UE UL MACscheduling algorithm can service these multiple grants arrivingconcurrently, such that the UL data packets are prepared fortransmission at the scheduled time slots, where the time delay, K2, maybe within the same slot or several slots away.

Upon receipt of an uplink grant, the UL scheduling mechanism in the UEcan run logical channel prioritization on all logical channels. For eachLC, the UE can check some parameters of the LC, such as allowedsub-carrier spacing (SCS), allowed serving cell list or maximum physicaluplink scheduling channel (PUSCH) duration, to determine if the LCpackets can be dequeued for this grant. In fact, an LC may be served bymultiple grants with different K2 values. The base station may alsoassign a logical channel grouping of LCs, for the purpose of buffer sizereporting to the BS, so that the BS can allocate UL grants for the UE.If there are any pending data for transmission in any LC, the UE mayneed to include a BSR report of all the LCGs for the TB transmission.

Specifically, there may be no direct correlation of the UE receivedgrant from the BS with latency to transmission, K2, with the LCG buffersizes reported by the UE. In addition, the UE may be required to includeall LCG buffer sizes in each BSR reporting, wasting processing power andmillion instructions per seconds (MIPS) even though some LCG queues maynot be served in this grant and may not have updated buffer sizes.

A challenge in 5G UL UE data grant scheduling is to process with minimumdelay and processing MIPS, the logical channel prioritization of all thelogical channels that are allowed for transmission in the currentmultiple grants, which have transmission delay of K2 slots, where K2 mayvary from 0 to 32 slots away.

In some approaches, there may be no direct correlation between the UEreceived grants with latency to transmission of K2, and the LCG buffersizes reported in BSR. There may be complex UL grant scheduling logicthat spans multiple common logical channels. Furthermore, there may belarge processing cycles and MIPS when serving UL grants. Additionally,there may be wastage of processing cycles and MIPS when composing BSRMAC control element (CE) packets. Also, there may be extra memoryoverhead for BSR MAC CEs to report all LCG buffer sizes. Such anapproach may also unsynchronized concurrent multiple memory accesses tomultiple common logical channels. Further, there may be high UE powerusage with unoptimized UL data scheduling.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure, by contrast, provide amethod that may optimize processing of the UE uplink data grantscheduling. Some embodiments of the method may correlate the UL grantlatency, K2, to the LCG buffer sizes reported in the BSR, such that thegrant can lead to immediate processing of packets from the associatedLCG without delay.

According to one aspect of some embodiments, there may be an associationof UL grant latency to transmission with a logical channel group. A ULgrant can be received at a UE, which can schedule a transmission at K2slots away. This UL grant can be associated by the UE directly with alogical channel grouping of logical channels that can be dequeueddirectly with priority for transmission scheduling.

According to another aspect of some embodiments, the UE can request thatthe BS or other network element or device maintain logical channelgrouping lists based on the UL applications. For example, the UE canrequest the BS to assign a logical channel grouping of logical channels,which can enqueue UL data applications at the UE. Each LCG can be taggedwith a latency value, K2.

According to a further aspect of some embodiments, the UE can report thebuffer status of the LCG scheduled for each grant, rather than providingall LCG buffer statuses. Thus, the UE may only send the BSR of the LCGin the grant, namely the LCG that is associated with the grant's latencyvalue, K2, and not the entire list of LCG. In case of no UL resources,all LCGs can still be reported in the BSR.

FIG. 2 illustrates an association of UL grant latency to transmissionwith a logical channel group, according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. As mentioned above, an uplink grant can be receivedat the UE indicating that the UE is scheduled for a transmission at K2slots away. The received UL grant can be associated directly with alogical channel grouping of logical channels that can be dequeueddirectly with priority for transmission scheduling.

FIG. 2 shows how four LCGs can be configured: LCG1 corresponds to K2<1,LCG2 corresponds to K2=1, LCG3 corresponds to K2=2-4, and LCG4corresponds to K2>4. In this case, LCG1 includes three LCs, namely LC1,LC2, and LC3. LCG2 includes LC4 and LC5. LCG3 includes LC6, LC7, andLC8. Finally, LCG4 includes LC9, LC10, LC11, and LC12.

LCG1 is associated with low latency, while LCG4 is associated with ahigher latency but also with a high throughput. As shown, each grant canbe associated with an LCG. For example, the two grants at the left ofFIG. 2 , with a value of K2<1 are associated with LCG1, while each ofthe other grants have a one-to-one association with a corresponding LCG.

There can be a logical channel prioritization associated with eachgrant/component carrier. The logical channel prioritization can beapplied to an LCG. Primary cell of a secondary cell group (PSCell) andeach other secondary cell (Scell) can have its own grant.

Each LCG can be associated with a corresponding latency, K2, such thatwhen the UE receives an uplink grant with a specific K2 value, the LCPfunction can directly process the associated LCG and dequeue packetsfrom these logical channels, separate from other LCGs. This may preventmultiple LCP access to common LC queues at one time, thus preventingunsynchronous memory access. There may be no performance degradation orambiguity in the inclusion of data for a specific grant. Each LCG caninclude several logical channels with queue data, which can only betransmitted in a grant specified for its latency requirements.

Grants for which LCP is performed can be received from each cell in amultiple component carriers configuration. Hence it is possible thatmultiple LCP grants with the same K2 value may process the same LCGqueues, as shown in FIG. 2 with LCG1, which can be accessed by a grantwith K2<1, which may come from two different cells.

In the example given, LCG1 can be set up for low latency applicationsand may be serviced by grants with K2<1. At the other extreme, LCG4 cancorrespond to LCs hosting high throughput and high latency applications,and which can be served by grants with large K2 value for several slotsaway for transmission.

Using this scheme, LCG1 can be served with the highest priority with thestrictest latency to transmission, with LCG2 at the next highestpriority, followed by LCG3, and lastly LCG4 with the lowest prioritybecause it has the largest latency to transmission time. Thus, the userequipment can avoid having high priority low latency packets beingnon-optimally included in the medium to high latency queues, which mayhave delayed transmission time, and deteriorate overall systemperformance.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user equipment requesting logical channel groupinglists based on uplink applications, according to some embodiments. Asshown in FIG. 3 , after radio resource control connection setup ofsignaling radio bearer (SRB) and logical channels at 310, the UE cansend a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration request at 320. Therequest can include a mapping between logical channel groups and a listof logical channels. The logical channels can be identified by logicalchannel identifiers (LCIds). The list can include a single logicalchannel or more than one logical channel. Each LCG can be tagged with alatency value K2.

The UE can request the network device, for example, a base station (BS),to assign the logical channel grouping of logical channels that enqueueUL data applications at the UE. For example, the grouping can be basedon an intended application known to the UE. It is not necessary to letthe BS or other network device know about the intended application.

At 330, the network device, for example, the BS, can reply with an RRCreconfigure message mirroring the lists provided in the RRC reconfigurerequest message.

Thus, with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE candetermine the grouping of logical channels and propose an LCG list, eachLCG corresponding to a K2 latency value according to its UL UEapplication needs. As shown in FIG. 3 , the UE sends the RRC ReconfigureRequest at 320 (after RRC connection setup with default LCIds at 330) topropose this list: RRC Reconfigure Request: (LCG1->K2, list of LCIds);(LCG2->K2, list of LCIds); (LCG3->K2, list of LCIds); and (LCG4->K2,list of LCIds). At 330, the BS can acknowledge this request, and sendback the RRC Reconfigure message, mirroring the LCG list proposed.

FIG. 4 illustrates user equipment reporting buffer status reports of alogic channel group schedule for each grant, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4 , at 410 UEdata can arrive in a buffer, for example, from an application or host inthe UE. At 415, the UE can send a scheduling request or can attemptrandom access.

The UE may only send a BSR of the LCG that is associated with thegrant's latency value K2, and not the entire list of LCGs. In case thereare no UL resources, all LCGs can still be reported in the BSR. The casewhere there are no UL resources is not shown in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 4 , however, once UE data arrives in a LC buffer at 410and there is not already an UL resource allocation, the UE can send ascheduling request at 415. If no physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)resources are present, the UE can trigger random access procedures at415. The BS can then assign some minimal UL grant resources either inthe physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) downlink control indicator(DCI) message, or in the random access response message. This grant isshown at 420.

With the resources provided by the UL grant, at 425 the UE can send theLCG buffer sizes in the formatted BSR reports to the BS, to requestfurther UL grant resources corresponding to each LCG. In this initialBSR, all the buffer sizes for all the LCG can be included. The BS canthen associate the BSR reports for each LCG buffer size with an assignedUL grant resource with the associated K2 latency value that was set upearlier.

For the LCG1 with K2<1, the UL grant can be sent at 430 by the BS withthe highest priority. Once the UE receives this UL grant, the UE canperform LCP to dequeue the high priority packets from the associatedLogical Channels from this LCG1 only, and then at 435 can include asuccinct BSR with only this LCG1's buffer size to request for more ULresources if needed.

Following this, at 440 the BS can send the next higher priority grantfor LCG2 with K2=1, with the allocated grant resource corresponding tothe BSR buffer size reported for this LCG2 of K2=1. Thus, at 445, the UEincludes a small BSR with only this LCG's buffer size to be reported tothe BS, so that the BS can continue to allocate UL resources for thisLCG.

Finally, at 450 the BS can send the grant for the LCG3 with K2 in therange of 2 to 4, and at 460 can send the highest latency grant for LCG4with K2>4. As in the other previous 2 UL transmissions, at 455 and 465the UE respectively can include only the BSR buffer sizes for the LCGassociated with the corresponding grant's K2 value.

In summary, some embodiments of the present disclosure can correlate aUL grant latency K2 directly to the LCG buffer sizes reported in the BSRby the UE, such that the BS can allocate the required grant size foreach LCG grouping of logical channels with the specific latency value,thereby optimizing the UL transmission resources. At the UE, the grantcan lead to immediate processing of packets from the associated LCGwithout delay.

FIG. 5 illustrates a user equipment method, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The method can include, at 510,receiving an uplink grant at a user equipment from a network device. Themethod can also include, at 520, associating the uplink grant directlywith a logical channel group comprising a plurality of logical channels.The logical channel group can be dequeued directly with priority fortransmission scheduling. For example, the associating can be performedbased on a mapping between latency of the uplink grant and a logicalchannel group. The latency of the uplink grant can refer to the timebetween when the uplink grant is provided to the user equipment and thescheduled transmission mentioned in the uplink grant.

The network device can be a base station, as illustrated in thepreceding examples. Other examples of network devices can include otheraccess nodes, broadly including evolved Node Bs (eNBs) next generationNode Bs (gNBs), or the like.

The method can also include, at 505, sending, to the network device fromthe user equipment, a request to associate a list of logical channelgroups comprising the logical channel group. The request to associatecan include a request to associate the plurality of logical channelswith the logical channel group. Not shown in this example, the basestation can receive the request and reply confirming that theassociation is being made as requested.

The request to associate can further include a request to associate alatency with the logical channel group. For example, the logical channelgroup may be associated with K2<1, K2=1, or the like.

The method can additionally include, at 530, determining, by the userequipment, a latency of the uplink grant. This may be performed bydetermining the time between when the uplink grant is received and whenthe transmission is scheduled. The method can further include, at 540,sending, to the network device responsive to the uplink grant, a bufferstatus report only of all logical channel groups associated with thelatency. The latency can be a latency value (for example, K2=1), or alatency range (for example, 2<=K2<=4).

The method can further include, at 550, determining, by the userequipment, that a time since a last uplink grant for a plurality oflogical channel groups exceeds a threshold. For example, if many slotspass without receiving any uplink grants for K2=4, the user equipmentmay decide that the network device needs to be aware that the userequipment has data suitable for such latency of communication. In somecases, in addition to using a timer and threshold, the user equipmentmay determine whether the logical channel group(s) have any data to betransmitted. When the timer has expired (and/or other criteria are met),the method can also include, at 560, sending, to the network device, abuffer status report of the plurality of logical channel groups.

FIG. 6 illustrates a network device method, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The method can include, at 610,sending an uplink grant from a network device to a user equipment. Thismay the same uplink grant received at 510 in FIG. 5 . Thus, the methodsof FIGS. 5 and 6 may be performed together with one another. Forexample, the method of FIG. 5 may be performed by a user equipment,while the method of FIG. 6 may be performed by one or more networkdevice, such as a base station.

As shown in FIG. 6 , at 620, the method can include receiving, from theuser equipment responsive to the uplink grant, a request to associate alist of logical channel groups. The request to associate can include arequest to associate a plurality of logical channels with the logicalchannel group. The method can further include, at 630, sending, from thenetwork device to the user equipment, a reconfiguration messageconfirming the list of logical channel groups and association with theplurality of logical channels. For example, an RRC reconfigure messagecan be sent from a base station to a user equipment, as illustrated inFIG. 3 .

As shown in FIG. 6 , the method can also include, at 640, sending, fromthe network device to the user equipment, a first latency uplink grantcorresponding to a first logical channel group associated with a firstlatency. The method can further include, at 650, receiving, from theuser equipment responsive to the first uplink grant, a buffer statusreport from the user equipment. The list of logical channel groups caninclude the first logical channel group.

The method can additionally include, at 660, sending, from the networkdevice to the user equipment, a second latency uplink grantcorresponding to a second logical channel group associated with a secondlatency. The second latency uplink grant can be sent with respect to adifferent component carrier or cell or the same cell at a differenttime. The method can also include, at 670, receiving, from the userequipment responsive to the second uplink grant, a buffer status reportfrom the user equipment. The list of logical channel groups can includethe second logical channel group. The second latency can be differentfrom the first latency, and the second logical channel group can bedifferent from the first logical channel group. The first logicalchannel group can be indicated in the first uplink grant implicitly byindicating the first latency explicitly. The same approach can be usedfor the second logical channel group, and so on.

Some embodiments provide a simple, practical scheme that can beimplemented in software, or alternatively in hardware or somecombination thereof. Some embodiments may also provide optimized ULgrant processing for each UL application data category identified by theUE. Processing cycles and MIPS savings can be provided by someembodiments when servicing UL grants with targeted LCG, based on K2delay, and when composing BSR MAC control elements. There may also bememory savings for reduced BSR MAC control element sending. Someembodiments can eliminate inefficient LCP dequeuing of overlappingmultiple LCs in one grant. Furthermore, some embodiments can preventunsynchronized memory access of multiple common LCs. Separate LCGs insome embodiments may prevent excessive numbers of memory accesses ofcommon logical channels queues during LCP. In addition, some embodimentsmay provide improved UE power with optimized UL data scheduling.

In some embodiments, variations on the above examples can beimplemented. For example, while the illustrations in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4show four categories of latency values, K2, there may be other numbersof categories, such as separate categories for each of 2, 3, and 4, oronly three categories of, for example, K2<1, K2=1, and K2>1.Additionally, there may be a timer such that if no grants for at leastone of the LCGs is received by the expiration of the timer, two or moreLCGs (including the one for which no grant was received) can be reportedin a buffer status report together.

FIG. 7 illustrates a 5G data plane architecture. As shown in FIG. 7 , ina 5G cellular wireless modem, the UE data stack can include layer two(L2) layers of medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC),packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and service data adaptationprotocol (SDAP), and L3/L4 layers. The UE data stack can process theinternet protocol (IP) layer functions.

FIG. 7 illustrates a typical structure of data stack processingarchitecture for a 5G cellular wireless modem. Separate verticalprocessing stacks, a downlink (DL) processing engine 710 and an uplink(UL) processing engine 720, are usually put together in one processingengine, in this example data plane processor 705, for the DL data stackand UL data stack, which could be one processor core or separate coresfor each layer. In FIG. 7 , a single DL core 715 and a single UL core725 are illustrated by way of example.

Within the protocol stacks (whether considering the DL data stack or theUL data stack), the MAC layer can interface with the physical (PHY)layer to transfer DL and UL data, and the L3/L4 layer can interface withthe AP/Host 730. Packet data can be transferred from shared memory (notshown) throughout the data stack, which could be local or externalmemory.

In a typical 5G carrier aggregation (CA) configuration, multiplecomponent carriers can be aggregated for a MAC entity, and the datastack can process multiple Transport Blocks (TBs), one from each CC, inone time slot. This can be processed for time slot durations from Ims(which implies 15 kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS)), 0.5 ms (which implies30 kHz SCS), 0.25 ms (which implies 60 kHz SCS), and up to 0.125 ms(which implies 120 kHz SCS).

At the DL, the MAC layer can decode and route TBs from each CC tological channels up the data stack processing chain. The DL data stackcan include packet processing and radio link recovery mechanisms at RLC,PDCP, SDAP, and L3/L4 layers.

At the UL, arriving data packets from AP/Host 730 can be processed byL3/L4, PDCP, RLC layers and put into LC queues. Upon grant arrival fromeach CC, the MAC layer can multiplex the data to be sent out for each TBon each CC.

As shown in FIG. 7 , there can be multiple CCs. For example, onecomponent carrier (in this example, CC1) can be for a primary cell of asecondary cell group (SCG). The remaining component carriers may be forother cells of the SCG. It may be valuable for the data stack to processmultiple TBs from multiple CC efficiently and effectively for alltraffic loads.

The software and hardware methods and systems disclosed herein, such asthe system of FIG. 7 or the methods illustrated in FIGS. 2 through 6 maybe implemented by any suitable nodes in a wireless network. For example,FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate respective apparatuses 800 and 900, and FIG. 10illustrates an exemplary wireless network 1000, in which some aspects ofthe present disclosure may be implemented, according to some embodimentsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 800 including abaseband chip 802, a radio frequency chip 804, and a host chip 806,according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparatus 800may be an example of any suitable node of wireless network 1000 in FIG.10 , such as user equipment 1002 or network node 1004. As shown in FIG.8 , apparatus 800 may include baseband chip 802, radio frequency chip804, host chip 806, and one or more antennas 810. In some embodiments,baseband chip 802 is implemented by processor 902 and memory 904, andradio frequency chip 804 is implemented by processor 902, memory 904,and transceiver 906, as described below with respect to FIG. 9 . In someembodiments, baseband chip 802 may, in whole or in part, implement thesystems and methods and generate and process the messages shown in FIGS.2-7 . For example, baseband chip 802 in a user equipment may perform theUE steps, generate the UE messages, and the like, respectively, in theuplink and downlink. Besides the on-chip memory (also known as “internalmemory” or “local memory,” e.g., registers, buffers, or caches) on eachchip 802, 804, or 806, apparatus 800 may further include an externalmemory 808 (e.g., the system memory or main memory) that can be sharedby each chip 802, 804, or 806 through the system/main bus. Althoughbaseband chip 802 is illustrated as a standalone SoC in FIG. 8 , it isunderstood that in one example, baseband chip 802 and radio frequencychip 804 may be integrated as one SoC; in another example, baseband chip802 and host chip 806 may be integrated as one SoC; in still anotherexample, baseband chip 802, radio frequency chip 804, and host chip 806may be integrated as one SoC, as described above.

In the uplink, host chip 806 may generate raw data and send it tobaseband chip 802 for encoding, modulation, and mapping. As mentionedabove, the data from host chip 806 may be associated with various IPflows. Baseband chip 802 may map those IP flows to quality of serviceflows and perform additional data plane management functions. Basebandchip 802 may also access the raw data generated by host chip 806 andstored in external memory 808, for example, using the direct memoryaccess (DMA). Baseband chip 802 may first encode (e.g., by source codingand/or channel coding) the raw data and modulate the coded data usingany suitable modulation techniques, such as multi-phase pre-shared key(MPSK) modulation or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). Basebandchip 802 may perform any other functions, such as symbol or layermapping, to convert the raw data into a signal that can be used tomodulate the carrier frequency for transmission. In the uplink, basebandchip 802 may send the modulated signal to radio frequency chip 804.Radio frequency chip 804, through the transmitter (Tx), may convert themodulated signal in the digital form into analog signals, i.e., radiofrequency signals, and perform any suitable front-end radio frequencyfunctions, such as filtering, up-conversion, or sample-rate conversion.Antenna 810 (e.g., an antenna array) may transmit the radio frequencysignals provided by the transmitter of radio frequency chip 804.

In the downlink, antenna 810 may receive radio frequency signals andpass the radio frequency signals to the receiver (Rx) of radio frequencychip 804. Radio frequency chip 804 may perform any suitable front-endradio frequency functions, such as filtering, down-conversion, orsample-rate conversion, and convert the radio frequency signals intolow-frequency digital signals (baseband signals) that can be processedby baseband chip 802. In the downlink, baseband chip 802 may demodulateand decode the baseband signals to extract raw data that can beprocessed by host chip 806. Baseband chip 802 may perform additionalfunctions, such as error checking, de-mapping, channel estimation,descrambling, etc. The raw data provided by baseband chip 802 may besent to host chip 806 directly or stored in external memory 808.

As shown in FIG. 9 , a node 900 may include a processor 902, a memory904, a transceiver 906. These components are shown as connected to oneanother by bus 908, but other connection types are also permitted. Whennode 900 is user equipment 1002, additional components may also beincluded, such as a user interface (UI), sensors, and the like.Similarly, node 900 may be implemented as a blade in a server systemwhen node 900 is configured as core network element 1006. Otherimplementations are also possible.

Transceiver 906 may include any suitable device for sending and/orreceiving data. Node 900 may include one or more transceivers, althoughonly one transceiver 906 is shown for simplicity of illustration. Anantenna 910 is shown as a possible communication mechanism for node 900.Multiple antennas and/or arrays of antennas may be utilized.Additionally, examples of node 900 may communicate using wiredtechniques rather than (or in addition to) wireless techniques. Forexample, network node 1004 may communicate wirelessly to user equipment1002 and may communicate by a wired connection (for example, by opticalor coaxial cable) to core network element 1006. Other communicationhardware, such as a network interface card (NIC), may be included aswell.

As shown in FIG. 9 , node 900 may include processor 902. Although onlyone processor is shown, it is understood that multiple processors can beincluded. Processor 902 may include microprocessors, microcontrollers,digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmablelogic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardwarecircuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the variousfunctions described throughout the present disclosure. Processor 902 maybe a hardware device having one or many processing cores. Processor 902may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to meaninstructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code,programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, softwareapplications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects,executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whetherreferred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription language, or otherwise. Software can include computerinstructions written in an interpreted language, a compiled language, ormachine code. Other techniques for instructing hardware are alsopermitted under the broad category of software. Processor 902 may be abaseband chip, such as baseband chip 802 in FIG. 8 . Node 900 may alsoinclude other processors, not shown, such as a central processing unitof the device, a graphics processor, or the like. Processor 902 mayinclude internal memory (also known as local memory, not shown in FIG. 9) that may serve as memory for L2 data. Processor 902 may include aradio frequency chip, for example, integrated into a baseband chip, or aradio frequency chip may be provided separately. Processor 902 may beconfigured to operate as a modem of node 900, or may be one element orcomponent of a modem. Other arrangements and configurations are alsopermitted.

As shown in FIG. 9 , node 900 may also include memory 904. Although onlyone memory is shown, it is understood that multiple memories can beincluded. Memory 904 can broadly include both memory and storage. Forexample, memory 904 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), ferro-electric RAM(FRAM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), CD-ROM or otheroptical disk storage, hard disk drive (HDD), such as magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, Flash drive, solid-statedrive (SSD), or any other medium that can be used to carry or storedesired program code in the form of instructions that can be accessedand executed by processor 902. Broadly, memory 904 may be embodied byany computer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer-readablemedium. The memory 904 can be the external memory 808 in FIG. 8 . Thememory 904 may be shared by processor 902 and other components of node900, such as the unillustrated graphic processor or central processingunit.

As shown in FIG. 10 , wireless network 1000 may include a network ofnodes, such as a UE 1002, a network node 1004, and a core networkelement 1006. User equipment 1002 may be any terminal device, such as amobile phone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, a vehiclecomputer, a gaming console, a printer, a positioning device, a wearableelectronic device, a smart sensor, or any other device capable ofreceiving, processing, and transmitting information, such as any memberof a vehicle to everything (V2X) network, a cluster network, a smartgrid node, or an Internet-of-Things (IoT) node. It is understood thatuser equipment 1002 is illustrated as a mobile phone simply by way ofillustration and not by way of limitation.

Network node 1004 may be a device that communicates with user equipment1002, such as a wireless access point, a base station (BS), a Node B, anenhanced Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a next-generation NodeB (gNodeB orgNB), a cluster master node, or the like. Network node 1004 may have awired connection to user equipment 1002, a wireless connection to userequipment 1002, or any combination thereof. Network node 1004 may beconnected to user equipment 1002 by multiple connections, and userequipment 1002 may be connected to other access nodes in addition tonetwork node 1004. Network node 1004 may also be connected to other UEs.It is understood that network node 1004 is illustrated by a radio towerby way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

Core network element 1006 may serve network node 1004 and user equipment1002 to provide core network services. Examples of core network element1006 may include a home subscriber server (HSS), a mobility managemententity (MME), a serving gateway (SGW), or a packet data network gateway(PGW). These are examples of core network elements of an evolved packetcore (EPC) system, which is a core network for the LTE system. Othercore network elements may be used in LTE and in other communicationsystems. In some embodiments, core network element 1006 includes anaccess and mobility management function (AMF) device, a sessionmanagement function (SMF) device, or a user plane function (UPF) device,of a core network for the NR system. It is understood that core networkelement 1006 is shown as a set of rack-mounted servers by way ofillustration and not by way of limitation.

Core network element 1006 may connect with a large network, such as theInternet 1008, or another IP network, to communicate packet data overany distance. In this way, data from user equipment 1002 may becommunicated to other UEs connected to other access points, including,for example, a computer 1010 connected to Internet 1008, for example,using a wired connection or a wireless connection, or to a tablet 1012wirelessly connected to Internet 1008 via a router 1014. Thus, computer1010 and tablet 1012 provide additional examples of possible UEs, androuter 1014 provides an example of another possible access node.

A generic example of a rack-mounted server is provided as anillustration of core network element 1006. However, there may bemultiple elements in the core network including database servers, suchas a database 1016, and security and authentication servers, such as anauthentication server 1018. Database 1016 may, for example, manage datarelated to user subscription to network services. A home locationregister (HLR) is an example of a standardized database of subscriberinformation for a cellular network. Likewise, authentication server 1018may handle authentication of users, sessions, and so on. In the NRsystem, an authentication server function (AUSF) device may be thespecific entity to perform user equipment authentication. In someembodiments, a single server rack may handle multiple such functions,such that the connections between core network element 1006,authentication server 1018, and database 1016, may be local connectionswithin a single rack.

Each of the elements of FIG. 10 may be considered a node of wirelessnetwork 1000. More detail regarding the possible implementation of anode is provided by way of example in the description of a node 900 inFIG. 9 above. Node 900 may be configured as user equipment 1002, networknode 1004, or core network element 1006 in FIG. 10 . Similarly, node 900may also be configured as computer 1010, router 1014, tablet 1012,database 1016, or authentication server 1018 in FIG. 10 .

In various aspects of the present disclosure, the functions describedherein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or anycombination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may bestored on or encoded as instructions or code on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes computerstorage media. Storage media may be any available media that can beaccessed by a computing device, such as node 900 in FIG. 9 . By way ofexample, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can includeRAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, HDD, such asmagnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, Flash drive,SSD, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desiredprogram code in the form of instructions or data structures and that canbe accessed by a processing system, such as a mobile device or acomputer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes CD, laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disk (DVD), and floppy disk where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be includedwithin the scope of computer-readable media.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for uplinkgrant handling can include receiving an uplink grant at a user equipmentfrom a network device. The method can also include associating theuplink grant directly with a logical channel group including a pluralityof logical channels.

In some embodiments, the user equipment can be configured to dequeue thelogical channel group directly with priority for transmissionscheduling.

In some embodiments, the method can further include sending, to thenetwork device from the user equipment, a request to associate a list oflogical channel groups including the logical channel group. The requestto associate can include a request to associate the plurality of logicalchannels with the logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the request to associate can further include arequest to associate a latency with the logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the method can further include determining, by theuser equipment, a latency of the uplink grant. The method canadditionally include sending, to the network device responsive to theuplink grant, a buffer status report only of all logical channel groupsassociated with the latency.

In some embodiments, the latency can be a latency value or a latencyrange.

In some embodiments, the method can further include determining, by theuser equipment, that a time since a last uplink grant for a plurality oflogical channel groups exceeds a threshold. The method can additionallyinclude sending, to the network device, a buffer status report of theplurality of logical channel groups.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method foruplink grant handling can include sending an uplink grant from a networkdevice to a user equipment. The method can also include receiving, fromthe user equipment responsive to the uplink grant, a request toassociate a list of logical channel groups. The request to associate caninclude a request to associate a plurality of logical channels with thelogical channel group. The method can further include sending, from thenetwork device to the user equipment, a reconfiguration messageconfirming the list of logical channel groups and association with theplurality of logical channels.

In some embodiments, the method can also include sending, from thenetwork device to the user equipment, a first latency uplink grantcorresponding to a first logical channel group associated with a firstlatency. In some embodiments, the method can further include receiving,from the user equipment responsive to the first uplink grant, a bufferstatus report from the user equipment. The list of logical channelgroups can include the first logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the method can also include sending, from thenetwork device to the user equipment, a second latency uplink grantcorresponding to a second logical channel group associated with a secondlatency. The method can further include receiving, from the userequipment responsive to the second uplink grant, a buffer status reportfrom the user equipment. The list of logical channel groups can includethe second logical channel group. The second latency can be differentfrom the first latency, and the second logical channel group can bedifferent from the first logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the first logical channel group can be indicated inthe first uplink grant implicitly by indicating the first latencyexplicitly.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a userequipment can include at least one processor and at least one memoryincluding computer instructions. The at least one memory and thecomputer instructions can be configured to, with the at least oneprocessor, cause the user equipment at least to receive an uplink grantat the user equipment from a network device. The at least one memory andthe computer instructions can also be configured to, with the at leastone processor, cause the user equipment at least to associate the uplinkgrant directly with a logical channel group including a plurality oflogical channels.

In some embodiments, the user equipment can be configured to dequeue thelogical channel group directly with priority for transmissionscheduling.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computerinstructions can also be configured to, with the at least one processor,cause the user equipment at least to associate a list of logical channelgroups including the logical channel group. The request to associate caninclude a request to associate the plurality of logical channels withthe logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the request to associate can further include arequest to associate a latency with the logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computerinstructions can be configured to, with the at least one processor,cause the user equipment at least to determine, by the user equipment, alatency of the uplink grant. The at least one memory and the computerinstructions can also be configured to, with the at least one processor,cause the user equipment at least to send, to the network deviceresponsive to the uplink grant, a buffer status report only of alllogical channel groups associated with the latency.

In some embodiments, the latency can be a latency value or a latencyrange.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computerinstructions can be configured to, with the at least one processor,cause the user equipment at least to determine, by the user equipment,that a time since a last uplink grant for a plurality of logical channelgroups exceeds a threshold. The at least one memory and the computerinstructions can also be configured to, with the at least one processor,cause the user equipment at least to send, to the network device, abuffer status report of the plurality of logical channel groups.

According to an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a networkdevice can include at least one processor and at least one memoryincluding computer instructions. The at least one memory and thecomputer instructions can be configured to, with the at least oneprocessor, cause the network device at least to send an uplink grantfrom the network device to a user equipment. The at least one memory andthe computer instructions can also be configured to, with the at leastone processor, cause the network device at least to receive, from theuser equipment responsive to the uplink grant, a request to associate alist of logical channel groups. The request to associate can include arequest to associate a plurality of logical channels with the logicalchannel group. The at least one memory and the computer instructions canfurther be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause thenetwork device at least to send, from the network device to the userequipment, a reconfiguration message confirming the list of logicalchannel groups and association with the plurality of logical channels.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computerinstructions can be configured to, with the at least one processor,cause the network device at least to send, from the network device tothe user equipment, a first latency uplink grant corresponding to afirst logical channel group associated with a first latency. The atleast one memory and the computer instructions can also be configuredto, with the at least one processor, cause the network device at leastto receive, from the user equipment responsive to the first uplinkgrant, a buffer status report from the user equipment. The list oflogical channel groups can include the first logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computerinstructions can be configured to, with the at least one processor,cause the network device at least to send, from the network device tothe user equipment, a second latency uplink grant corresponding to asecond logical channel group associated with a second latency. The atleast one memory and the computer instructions can also be configuredto, with the at least one processor, cause the network device at leastto receive, from the user equipment responsive to the second uplinkgrant, a buffer status report from the user equipment. The list oflogical channel groups can include the second logical channel group. Thesecond latency can be different from the first latency, and the secondlogical channel group can be different from the first logical channelgroup.

In some embodiments, the first logical channel group can be indicated inthe first uplink grant implicitly by indicating the first latencyexplicitly.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, anon-transitory computer-readable medium can be encoded with instructionsthat, when executed in a user equipment, perform a process for uplinkgrant handling. The process can include receiving an uplink grant at theuser equipment from a network device. The process can also includeassociating the uplink grant directly with a logical channel groupincluding a plurality of logical channels.

In some embodiments, the user equipment can be configured to dequeue thelogical channel group directly with priority for transmissionscheduling.

In some embodiments, the process can further include sending, to thenetwork device from the user equipment, a request to associate a list oflogical channel groups including the logical channel group. The requestto associate can include a request to associate the plurality of logicalchannels with the logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the request to associate can further include arequest to associate a latency with the logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the process can further include determining, by theuser equipment, a latency of the uplink grant. The process canadditionally include sending, to the network device responsive to theuplink grant, a buffer status report only of all logical channel groupsassociated with the latency.

In some embodiments, the latency can be a latency value or a latencyrange.

In some embodiments, the process can further include determining, by theuser equipment, that a time since a last uplink grant for a plurality oflogical channel groups exceeds a threshold. The process additionallyincludes sending, to the network device, a buffer status report of theplurality of logical channel groups.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, anon-transitory computer-readable medium can be encoded with instructionsthat, when executed in a network device, perform a process for uplinkgrant handling. The process can include sending an uplink grant from thenetwork device to a user equipment. The process can also includereceiving, from the user equipment responsive to the uplink grant, arequest to associate a list of logical channel groups. The request toassociate can include a request to associate a plurality of logicalchannels with the logical channel group. The process can further includesending, from the network device to the user equipment, areconfiguration message confirming the list of logical channel groupsand association with the plurality of logical channels.

In some embodiments, the process can further include sending, from thenetwork device to the user equipment, a first latency uplink grantcorresponding to a first logical channel group associated with a firstlatency. The process can additionally include receiving, from the userequipment responsive to the first uplink grant, a buffer status reportfrom the user equipment. The list of logical channel groups can includethe first logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the process can further include sending, from thenetwork device to the user equipment, a second latency uplink grantcorresponding to a second logical channel group associated with a secondlatency. The process can additionally include receiving, from the userequipment responsive to the second uplink grant, a buffer status reportfrom the user equipment. The list of logical channel groups can includethe second logical channel group. The second latency can be differentfrom the first latency and the second logical channel group can bedifferent from the first logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the first logical channel group can be indicated inthe first uplink grant implicitly by indicating the first latencyexplicitly.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so reveal thegeneral nature of the present disclosure that others can, by applyingknowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt forvarious applications such specific embodiments, without undueexperimentation, without departing from the general concept of thepresent disclosure. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications areintended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of thedisclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presentedherein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminologyherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, suchthat the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is tobe interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings andguidance.

Embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above with theaid of functional building blocks illustrating the implementation ofspecified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of thesefunctional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for theconvenience of the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined solong as the specified functions and relationships thereof areappropriately performed.

The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or more but not allexemplary embodiments of the present disclosure as contemplated by theinventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limit the present disclosureand the appended claims in any way.

Various functional blocks, modules, and steps are disclosed above. Theparticular arrangements provided are illustrative and withoutlimitation. Accordingly, the functional blocks, modules, and steps maybe re-ordered or combined in different ways than in the examplesprovided above. Likewise, some embodiments include only a subset of thefunctional blocks, modules, and steps, and any such subset is permitted.

The breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited byany of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be definedonly in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for uplink grant handling, comprising: receiving an uplink grant at a user equipment from a network device; and associating the uplink grant directly with a logical channel group comprising a plurality of logical channels.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user equipment is configured to dequeue the logical channel group directly with priority for transmission scheduling.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending, to the network device from the user equipment, a request to associate a list of logical channel groups comprising the logical channel group, wherein the request to associate comprises a request to associate the plurality of logical channels with the logical channel group.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the request to associate further comprises a request to associate a latency with the logical channel group.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the user equipment, a latency of the uplink grant; and sending, to the network device responsive to the uplink grant, a buffer status report only of all logical channel groups associated with the latency.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the latency comprises a latency value or a latency range.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the user equipment, that a time since a last uplink grant for a plurality of logical channel groups exceeds a threshold; and sending, to the network device, a buffer status report of the plurality of logical channel groups.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the associating is performed based on a mapping between latency of the uplink grant and the logical channel group.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the latency of the uplink grant refers to a time between when the uplink grant is provided to the user equipment and a scheduled transmission mentioned in the uplink grant.
 10. A user equipment, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer instructions, wherein the at least one memory and the computer instructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to receive an uplink grant at the user equipment from a network device; and associate the uplink grant directly with a logical channel group comprising a plurality of logical channels.
 11. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the user equipment is configured to dequeue the logical channel group directly with priority for transmission scheduling.
 12. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the at least one memory and the computer instructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to send, to the network device from the user equipment, a request to associate a list of logical channel groups comprising the logical channel group, wherein the request to associate comprises a request to associate the plurality of logical channels with the logical channel group.
 13. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the request to associate further comprises a request to associate a latency with the logical channel group.
 14. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the at least one memory and the computer instructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: determine, by the user equipment, a latency of the uplink grant; and send, to the network device responsive to the uplink grant, a buffer status report only of all logical channel groups associated with the latency.
 15. The user equipment of claim 14, wherein the latency comprises a latency value or a latency range.
 16. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the at least one memory and the computer instructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: determine, by the user equipment, that a time since a last uplink grant for a plurality of logical channel groups exceeds a threshold; and send, to the network device, a buffer status report of the plurality of logical channel groups.
 17. A network device, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer instructions, wherein the at least one memory and the computer instructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to send an uplink grant from the network device to a user equipment; receive, from the user equipment responsive to the uplink grant, a request to associate a list of logical channel groups, wherein the request to associate comprises a request to associate a plurality of logical channels with the logical channel group; and send, from the network device to the user equipment, a reconfiguration message confirming the list of logical channel groups and association with the plurality of logical channels.
 18. The network device of claim 17, wherein the at least one memory and the computer instructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to: send, from the network device to the user equipment, a first latency uplink grant corresponding to a first logical channel group associated with a first latency; and receive, from the user equipment responsive to the first uplink grant, a buffer status report from the user equipment, wherein the list of logical channel groups comprises the first logical channel group.
 19. The network device of claim 18, wherein the at least one memory and the computer instructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to: send, from the network device to the user equipment, a second latency uplink grant corresponding to a second logical channel group associated with a second latency; and receive, from the user equipment responsive to the second uplink grant, a buffer status report from the user equipment, wherein the list of logical channel groups comprises the second logical channel group, and wherein the second latency is different from the first latency, and the second logical channel group is different from the first logical channel group.
 20. The network device of claim 18, wherein the first logical channel group is indicated in the first uplink grant implicitly by indicating the first latency explicitly. 